Portable earth-boring machine.



A. FLESHER.

PORTABLE EARTH BORING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE I3, |914.

Inrented` Maly l1, 191:3.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. FLESHER.

PORTABLE EARTH BORING MACHINE.

` APPLICATION FILED 1UNE13. i914. 1913991 Patented May. 11, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

ANDREW FLESHER, F TAYLOBVILLE, ILLINOIS.

PORTABLE EARTH-BORING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led une 18, 1914. Serial No. 844,920.

' To all whom vlmay concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW FLESHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at 'I`aylorville,l in the county of Christian and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Earth-Boring Machines, of which the following is a specification. y

My invention relates to -a portable 'drilling or boring machine particularly designed for boring in earth, as in digging ditches, draining swamps, planting trees, regenerating old orchards, breaking up hard-pan, sub-soil, &c., although the 'machine is capable of practical use in other fields.

A leading object of the invention is to provide a machine of the character indicated with a plurality of boring or digging tools and to so arrange the parts that a plurality of holes may be bored at the same time and at different distances apart, the machine being provided with a self-contained motor, which is designedl to propel the machine from place to place and to operate'the drilling-tools.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists of the parts and the constructions, arrangements and combina-`- tions of parts which I will hereinafter describel and claim.

In the accompanyingy drawings forming part of this specification and in which similar reference characters indicate like parts in the several views Figure A1 is a side elevation of a portable drilling machine embodying the salient features of my invention, showing the running gear in dotted lines and showing, also, in dotted lines, an adjusted position of a boring tool at one end of the machine. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine. -E ig. 3 is an enlar ed detail which I will hereinafter descri e.

As before stated, this machine is designed particularly for boring holes in the ground and therefore will befound quite useful in farm-work. The machine is 'designed to operatively carry a plurality of boring tools; in the present instance there are four of these tools used, two at the frontl end and two at 'the`rear whereby four holes may be made in the earth at one time and through the medium of power which may be communicated to thel boring toolsfrom the engine which operatesto propel the machine 'over the road or from place to place.

InY practice, I prefer to construct the frame of the machine of tubing connected longitudinally and transversely, or of hollow members, a, which are 4designed to serve as a container or reservoir for the water necessary to supply the requirements of the radiator, 10, of the gas engine, with which the frame of the machine is preferably supplied, this water being delivered, say at the front left-hand side of the radiator through the medium of 'a small pipe connection, 11, as shown in Fig. 2.

The frame of the machine may have any suitable length, say for example, fifteen feet, which enables me to set the drills relatively to each other so thatholes may be made in the ground at a distance of fifteen feet apart7 it being understood that the drills or boring tools are, preferably, located at the extreme front and rear ends of the machine, although they may occupy other positions on the frame without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In the drawings I have shown the tools as being in the form of angers, 12, suitably held in a perpendicular position and having stems, 13, which are appropriately guided in bearings, 14, carried by the forked outer ends of curved supporting arms or brackets, 15, the inner ends of said arms being appropriately jointed as atV 16, to the front and rear ends of the main frame, as shown in Fig. 2. The curved arms, 15, which support the shanks of the drills or boring tools are thus permitted to swing in a `horizontal plane so that said arms may be moved 1nboard substantially parallel'- Withvand close to the outer sides of the frame, which is desirable as it reduces the lextreme width of Patented May 11, 1915. f

the machine whenv said machine is traveling on a public highway, or must pass through a gate or other opening; and'said arms with their boring tools may be moved outwardly so that they stand substantially at rightangles to the sides of the` frame, or 1n any position.` intermediate thereof to thereby vary the distance between the drills at that end of the machine and accordingly, the distance between the holes which are to be bored by these drills.

lThe curved arms, 15, may have such length as may be desired. If the frame of the machine is fifteen feet long, the length of the two arms at the ends of the machine may be such that when these arms are in their out-board position, the distance between the centers of the drills at each end of the machine will be, approximately, lifteen feet, which Iarrangement enables me to bore four holes, which `are substantially fif-- teen feet apart.

The drills have their Shanks, 13, constructed with a groove, 13, which enables the drills to progressively feed downwardly to follow the boring in the manner well known in this art. Rotation is imparted to the drills by means of beveled gears, 17, splined on the shanks thereof, said shanks being appropriately vertically guided during the operation of the drills by means of guide rods or bars, 18, arranged parallel with the Shanks and appropriately secured to suitable collars, 19, on the drill shank, said guide rods or bars operating in guides, 20, formed on the outer ends of the curved bars, 15. The beveled gears, 17, are in mesh with and are operated by corresponding gears, 21, on the outer ends of suitably lmounted driven shafts, 22, which extend transversely across the front and rear ends of the machine and through the outer ends,

of the swinging arms, 15, and which shafts are provided with beveled gears, 23, which are in mesh with beveled gears, 24, on the ends-of a drive shaft, 25, which extends longitudinally along the upper portion of the frame of the machine, said drive-shaft being appropriately mounted in bearings in standards, 26, fixed to the frame of the machine in any suitable manner.

The power necessary to operate the drive shaft may be obtained from any suitable motor. As shown, this power is derived from the gas engine of an automobile truck through the .medium of the crank-shaft, 27, on saidengine andthis may be readily done by removing the usual crank thereof and extending the crank-shaft for a suitable distance so that it may receive a sprocket pinion, 28, which, through the medium of a sprocket-chain, 29, operates a sprocketwheel, 30, on the drive-shaft, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, said drive-shaft being provided with any suitable form of clutch mechanism, 31, which is operated by alever, 32, and operating rod, 33, to throw the clutch in and out at pleasure and thereby connect the power of the engine with the `drive-shaft, or remove it therefrom, as may be desired.

In order that the curved arms, 15, whlch support at their outer ends the drilling tools, may be folded in and outgso that they may 1n one position lie substantially parallel with and close to the sides of the frame, and in another position may stand at right-angles thereto, or at an acute angle to the frame, I

provide the driven shafts with hinged joints, 34, which are so related to the joint or hinge of the curved arms, 15,and to suitable bracerods, 35, connecting the outer ends of the curved arms -to the lower corners of the main frame, that the aforesaid folding movements may be readily effected. Normally, the arms, 15, will lie substantially close to and parallel to the sides of the frame and when the operator drives into a field with this machine he may, by means of a suitable stay-rod (not shown), which he may have at a convenient placeon the machine, readily push the Jointed-arms, 1 5, outwardly and thereby move the drills out wardly to their proper positions to drill a hole corresponding to each of the drills, it being understood that when the drills are thus moved to their outer positions, an opershaft, 25, and through this 4shaft and the gears, 24 and 23, driven.y shafts, 22 and gears 21, and 17, operate the drill spindles. These operations may be readily effected without the operator leaving his seat on the machine. After the holes have been drilled to the proper depth, the drills may be lifted out of the ground by means of cables, 36, each of which passes over suitable guide pulleys, 37 and 38, and is connected to a winding drum, b, or like part having an operating handle, c, said cables having their outer ends connected to thecollars, 39, or to some other suitable part of the drilling tool.

When the drills have been lifted clear of theground the operator may move the machine into a new position, for the purpose of drilling another series of holes at some other point and at a suitable distance from the holes made in the previous operation, and having arrived at the point where the next set of holes is to be bored, the operator releases the winding drum which will be of the well known type, and thus frees the boring tools, throws in the clutch, 31, and repeats the drilling operation.

My improvements are of such a character that they may be readily applied to or mounted on the running gear of an automobile of the usual form; the several parts can also and without serious trouble, be mounted on an ordinary farm wagon supplied with a gas-engine which will be so installed as to operate the drive-shaft, driven shafts and drills in substantially the manner before described. In this case, the wagon may be moved from place to place by means of one or more horses. y

In the type of machine shown, the main frame which is formed of longitudinal and transverse tubes, is mounted on the upper portion of the body of an automobile having a truck or chassis, 122, said automobile being provided with a gasolene tank, 124, and

. operator,

an appropriate steering wheel, 125, and such other accessories as may be desired for the more convenient operation of the machine as a whole.

In Fig. 3 I show an enlarged detail of a portion of shank of one of the drills, which shank is provided with screw threads, 40,

adapted to be engaged by a correspondingly' formed short end, 41, of a lever, 42, pivotally mounted at 43 on the outer ends of the swinging curved arms, 15, and connected to a wire or other connection, 44, which leads to a convenient point within the reach of the said leverbeing also connected to one end of a spring, 45, the other end of which is attached tothe said curved arm whereby the spring tends to hold the short arm of the lever out of connection with *he threaded drill-shank. This construction is desirable when the drill is to operate through hard-pan, or some other light resisting substance; when this occurs the operator pulls upon the wire, 44, and thus moves the lever' causing the short arm, 41, thereof 'to be forcedinto engagement with the threaded drill shank, thereby holding the drill to its work. After the drill is passed through the hard substance, the operator may slacken on the wire when the spring, 45, returns the lever into the normal dotted position shown in Fig. 3 and disengages it from the shank.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A portable earth boring machine, comprising a wheeled structure, a boring tool, an arm carrying said tool and hingedly connected to the wheeled structure, whereby the arm may be swung outwardly to position a boring tool a substantial distance ,beyond the side of said structure, anda driven shaft mounted on said structure andon said arm and adapted to flex in unison with the swinging movements of said arm.

2. A portable earth boring machine, having a vertically hinged arm adapted'to be swung inwardly so that it lies substantially close to the machine and to be swung outwardly from the side of said machine, a structure to which the arm is hingedly connected, a driven shaft mounted on said structure andlextending to and having a portion mounted on said arm, said shaft adapted to flex in unison with the swinging movements of the arm, and a boring tool carried by the free end of said arm.

3. An earth boring machine comprising a' frame, an arm having one end hingedly connected to the longitudinal side of the frame,

a boring tool mounted in the free end of the arm, said arm adapted to be swung inwardly so that in one positionit lies substantially close to the sidejof the frame,` and in another position it operatively holds the tool a substantial distance away from said side of the frame, a driven shaft mounted on said frame, and extending to and having a part supported by said arm, said shaft having a joint permitting it to fold in unison with the swinging movements of the arm.

4. An earth-boring machine, comprising a frame, a boring-tool, foldable-connections between the tool and frame permitting the tool to be normally positioned substantially close to the frame and to be swung outwardly transversely of the frame and to operatively hold the boring tool in the outboard position, and means for operating the boring-tool, said means including a driven shaft and gearing between the same and the tool, said shaft having a joint permitting it to ex in unison with said foldable connections.

5. An earth-boring machine comprising a frame, a plurality of boring-tools at opposite portions of the frame, andV supporting arms for the tools, each of said arms carrying a tool 'at one end and having opposite ends hingedly connected to the frame where- 6. An earth-boring machine, comprising a frame, arms at opposite portions of the frame having one end hingedly connected theretov whereby said arms may be positioned substantially close to' the frame and may be moved outwardly1 to stand at an angle to the frame, a boring-tool carried by the free end. of said arm, means for operating the tools in unison, and means for shifting the arms and tools in unison from an outward to an inward position.

7. An earth-boring machine, comprising a frame, arms at opposite portions of the frame having one end hingedly connected` thereto whereby said arms may be positioned substantially close to the frame and may be moved outwardly to stand at an angle to the frame, a boring tool carried by the free endof said arm, means for operating the tools in unison, means for shifting the arms and tools in unison from an outward to an inward position, and tool-operating means comprising a drive-shaft, a driven shaft, and gearing between the driven shaft and tools, said driven shaft having joints permitting it to flex in unison with the swinging movements of the arms. A

- 8. An earth-boring tool, comprising a frame, a plurality of arms at opposite sides of one end of-the machine, a plurality of arms at opposite sides of the other end of the machine, each of said arms having one end hingedly connected to the frame whereunison, vertical guides for the tools, and means for raising the tools from engagement with the earth.

9. An earth-boring tool, comprising a frame, a plurality of arms at opposite sides of one end of the machine, a plurality of arms at opposite sides of the other end ot the machine, cachot. said arms having one end hingedly connected to the frame whereby the arms may be swung inwardly and outwardly relatively to the frame, tools having Shanks mounted in the free ends of said arms, meansfor operating the tools in unison, vertical guides for the tools, means for raising the tools from engagement with the earth, said tool-operating means comprising a drive-shaft, a driven'shaft at each end of the machine, and gearing between the drive shaftand the tool-s, said driven shafts having joints permitting them to Hex in unison with the swinging movements of said arms.

10. The combination with a motor vehicle, of a'frame-Work, of tubular material supported thereon and adapted as a reservoir for supplying water to the motor of the vehicle; a plurality 0I tool-supporting .elcments foldably connected to opposite sides of said frame-work adapted to be swung from a position substantially parallel with the sides of the frame to a position substantially at right-angles thereto, and vice versa; and means for operating the tools in unison, said means comprising driven shafts having joints permitting them to Hex in unison with said supportingelements.

`to Hex in unison with said supporting elements.

12. The combination with a boring-tool having a threaded shank, of means for holding the tool to its work, said means comprising a pivoted lever normally out of engagement with the shank and having a part adapted to be forcibly moved into engagement with the threads thereof. ,l l

13. The combination with a boring-tool having a threaded shank, of means for holding the tool to its Work, said means comprising a pivoted lever normally out of engagement with the shank and having a part adapted to be forcibly moved into engagement with the threads thereof, and asprmg for rocking the lever to withdraw said part from its engagement with the shank.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW FLESHER.

Witnesses:

E. A. VANDEVEER, WALTER M. PROVINE. 

